


Calm Down! It's Not my Blood!

by DreaminginCabeswater



Category: All For the Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Andrew could kill Neil, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood, Car Accidents, M/M, Neil deals with his reflection, Neil is a hero, Rescue, Self Actualization, Self Confidence Issues, Unconsciousness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-24
Updated: 2016-06-24
Packaged: 2018-07-16 22:22:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7286941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreaminginCabeswater/pseuds/DreaminginCabeswater
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on a prompt - "Okay, the blood isn't mine. Calm down!"</p>
<p>Neil witnesses a bad car accident and proves to himself he's no longer Nathaniel. He's Neil. Andrew almost has a heart attack finding him covered in blood.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Calm Down! It's Not my Blood!

**Author's Note:**

> Just another reminder - Trigger warnings - Blood, car accident, possible injury to a kid, unconscious person.

Neil bent over the bathroom sink scrubbing his hands, watching red and pink swirl down the drain. His stomach threatened to convulse at the coppery, rust and caustic smoke smells emanating from his clothes. He gripped his hands, trying to steady the shaking. He glanced in the mirror and grimaced at the blood covering his shirt and pants. Dark smears of scarlet covered his face. A singe on his forearm an angry red. He couldn’t see his reflection, without seeing his father’s, and his body shuddered involuntarily. 

Neil had seen plenty of bloody things. Bloody knives. Bloody skin. Bloody vinyl car seats. Bloody sheets. Bloodied knuckles. Bloody gunshot wounds. Blood seemed to be part of his life. He usually didn't pay much attention to it, but this blood was connected to something else, something stirring within him, like a butterfly struggling to break free of its chrysalis. 

Neil thought back to the afternoon with a heavy heart. 

He had been driving down the interstate, south to Columbia, soft music playing on the radio. His muscles releasing tension from the day’s practice, sinking into the supple leather driver’s seat of the Maserati. The scent of leather, Andrew’s cologne, and a hint of the stale cigarette smoke that clung to Andrew and himself relaxed him further. 

Neil had let his mind drift. His thoughts floated from Andrew to Kevin and the other Foxes. Then twisted to Exy and back to Andrew. Andrew’s birthday was two weeks out, and he had no idea what to get him. He knew Andrew wasn't a materialistic person, but that didn't stop Neil from wanting to get him the perfect gift. He thought about stopping at Exites, but he knew that would be more for him than Andrew. He had settled for a large outdoor shopping mall in Columbia that commercials touted as the place to buy anything for anyone. Neil would see it to believe it. 

However, twenty minutes down the interstate and Neil had to swerve and throw on the breaks as a large Ford truck crashed into a much smaller sedan. The accident had occurred in slow motion. The crunch of metal, the squeal of breaks, the thud of metal hitting the concrete barrier. Neil was just far enough back to pull on to the shoulder. He yanked his phone from his pocket, flinging open the Maserati’s door and running to the sedan, and called 911. 

_911, what's your emergency?_

_There's been an accident on I-26 before the Orangeburg exit. We need an ambulance._

_Okay, sir. Can I get your name?_

_Neil Josten._

Neil never got tired of giving his new name. Of not hiding anymore. Pride swelled in his chest despite the destruction before him. Car parts, shattered glass, and various liquids littered the asphalt, but who he was remained intact. It reminded Neil of his own life - beauty and destruction intertwined to make a masterpiece. 

_How many cars are involved?_

_Two._

_How are the drivers?_

Neil had run to the sedan and crouched down, phone cradled between his ear and shoulder, trying to pull open the door, but unable to budge it. The driver from the truck had stumbled toward them, dazed and confused, a cut above his eyebrow dripping blood down his cheek and a large bruise forming across his neck from the seatbelt. He embraced his arm gently and approached Neil. 

"How are they?" He asked, voice gravelly. Another witness pulled the guy to the side into the grass, talking to him softly. Another witness helped Neil pull on the driver's door. It still remained closed. 

_One is walking, but has a nasty cut on his face, and the other is stuck in the car. She's unconscious and bleeding and she had a kid with her._

Neil had pulled the back door open and talked softly to the boy in the backseat. 

"Hey buddy, what’s your name?”

“Kyle.” The boy’s voice shook with tears. 

“Hey, Kyle. I’m Neil. It's going to be okay. I'm going to get you out. People are coming to help you and your mom."

_Is the kid okay? Can you get him out safely?_

_Yes._

Neil fought back a deluge of his own memories. Memories of his mom. Her savage smile. Her fierce brown eyes. How she would fight anyone to the death for him. The memory only sharpened when the scent of gasoline and biting smoke hit his nose, burning the back of his throat. 

_We have a problem. The car is leaking gas and there's a fire._

_Can you get them out of the car to safety?_

Neil couldn’t understand the operator’s calm in the midst of turmoil, but it calmed him and helped him focus.

_I'll try._

Neil tightened his grip on the phone and reached for the kid. The other person next to him pushed the back door open. Kyle couldn't have been older than 8 years old. His big brown eyes wide and watering. Telltale signs of fear painted his face.

Kyle gripped at a small cut on his arm. Neil could tell he was trying to be brave. 

"Is my mommy going to be okay, mister?" 

“You better believe it, Kyle. Will you come with me, so I can help your mommy?” Neil asked. 

The boy nodded slightly and held his arms out to Neil. Neil scooped him up, and the helper offered to take the boy. 

“This nice gentleman is going to get you somewhere safe, so I can get your mommy out of the car, okay?” 

Kyle nodded, biting back tears, and let the helper carry him to the concrete barrier with the truck’s driver and other witnesses to the accident. 

With the kid safe, Neil reached through the backseat to roll the window down, but it wouldn't yield. The mechanisms must have been jammed. Instead, Neil found a large rock in the grass near him and continued to hit the window until it shattered into a million pieces.

He pulled off his hoodie and placed it over the window, trying to protect them both from jagged glass. Swiftly he reached through the window, his feet almost dangling off the concrete and unbuckled the unconscious woman. He wound his arms under her arms and began to pull. He was having trouble moving her at his angle, until another pair of hands appeared and helped twist her torso up and through the window. Neil pulled her close against his chest, not caring about the blood pooling around her. She was taller than Neil, but he still carried her, albeit awkwardly, to the concrete barrier, laying her down a safe distance from the burning cars. 

_She’s safe._

_Is she breathing?_

_I don’t think so._

_Can you give her CPR?_

Neil handed his phone to the person already giving the woman CPR. “Here. It’s 911. They want to talk you through CPR.”

Neil dropped to his knees, air burning his lungs as he hungrily gulped it down. He swiped at his forehead and wiped away sweat and blood. Not his blood he kept reminding himself. Not his blood.

The firefighters arrived first, putting out the flames and checking on everyone. The paramedics followed shortly, pushing away the bystander giving the unconscious woman CPR to start compressions. Kyle sobbed into a woman’s side, and the man that had helped Neil, supported the other driver’s arm, keeping him standing upright. 

Neil exhaled a gust of air and steadied himself and gathered his phone and ruined hoodie from the wreckage. _You’re fine. You’re fine. You’re fine._

Nathaniel would have never stopped for something like this. His only thoughts were to keep moving, keep hiding, but Neil wasn’t Nathaniel. Neil would stop. He had stopped and he would stop again. He didn't have to hide anymore. 

Neil had stood back and watched as the woman woke up with a start, tears streaming down her face, and reached for her little boy. The paramedics loaded the drivers into ambulances and firefighters rumbled off. After the police took everyone's statements, Neil climbed back into the Maserati. He leaned his forehead against the wheel and just breathed. Neil glanced in the mirror. Soot and blood lined his face. His skin too pale and his eyes to wide. He was a mess. Andrew’s present would have to wait for another day.

Back at Fox Tower, Neil stood before the mirror, staring down his father’s face with auburn hair and icy blue eyes. Not Nathan, but Neil. He was his own man now. No one owned him. Today proved that.

He didn't hear the front door open or the soft padding to the bathroom door, so he jumped a little at Andrew's appearance. He held Neil’s ripped and dirty hoodie. Rust colored stains across the back. 

"Shit. You scared me." Neil took a deep breath and exhaled noisily. 

Andrew’s expression turned deep and dark and distant in an instant. He dropped the hoodie and his hands immediately threaded in Neil's hair, almost painfully, jerking his head back and forth. His hands traveled to his shoulders and chest, poking and prodding, looking for the source of blood. 

"Andrew," Neil whispered, then louder, "Andrew." 

Neil framed Andrews face in his hands to get him to focus. 

"It's okay. Calm down. It's not my blood. It's someone else's."

"Who?" Andrew couldn't hide the tension in his voice or shoulders or the way his chest heaved with every breath. Neil knew Andrew was ten seconds away from destroying anything he could find. 

"There was a car accident. Everyone is going to be okay. I just saw it happen. I stayed to help."

"You moron," Andrew said, his voice taking on its usual bored inflection, letting his hands fall to his side. 

"I believe you've said that before."

"And I'll say it all the time because you'll never stop being a fucking moron."

Neil grinned ever so slightly. 

"I'm glad I have you around to remind me. Who knows what stupid stunts I would pull without know how moronic I am." 

Andrew arched an eyebrow at Neil. "I hate you."

"I know. What is it now? 999%?"

"Go wash up. You're disgusting, and you better not have gotten any of those bodily fluids in my car."

Andrew turned, walking out of the bathroom. From the living room, Neil still heard Andrew mutter,"105%,” and Neil couldn't help but laugh.


End file.
